In everyday language, people use the word crime loosely, calling unfair pricing criminal or rude behaviour criminal. In law, according to The Citizen’s Guide to Criminal Law, the word means something far more specific.
A Precise, Deliberately Narrow Definition
A crime is a defined act, or in some cases a defined failure to act, that violates a particular provision of criminal law, carries specific legal consequences, and is prosecuted by the state on behalf of the public interest. Take theft as an example. The legal definition requires several elements to be present simultaneously, the property must belong to another person, it must be movable, it must be taken without consent, and the taking must be dishonest. If any single ingredient is missing, the act may still be wrong in some way, but it may not meet the legal definition of theft.
Why Criminal Wrongs Differ From Civil Wrongs
A civil wrong is a matter between two private parties, decided on the balance of probability. A criminal wrong is treated as a wrong against society as a whole, prosecuted by the state, and must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Adv. Vikram J Singh notes that a single incident, such as fraud, can sometimes produce both a criminal prosecution and a separate civil suit, proceeding through entirely different tracks.
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